Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has thanked filmmaker Christopher Nolan for putting a modern spotlight on Ancient Greece with his hit movie The Odyssey, his office said Tuesday.

Mitsotakis congratulated the British director in a teleconference on Monday on the success of the movie, which has renewed international interest in Homer's ancient epic.

The Odyssey, which follows Greek hero Odysseus on his long journey home after the Trojan War, stars Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway as Odysseus and Penelope, with Tom Holland portraying their son Telemachus.

It has topped the US box office for two straight weeks and has already taken $640 million worldwide. Mitsotakis thanked Nolan for the film's contribution to "boosting global interest in ancient Greek civilisation," according to a statement from the prime minister's office.

"Such productions bridge Greece's rich cultural heritage with contemporary creativity," Mitsotakis said. While packing cinemas around the world, The Odyssey has generated public debate and criticism.

Spotify has reported a surge of interest in audiobook translations of The Odyssey, with Gen Z and millennials leading the demand.

But tech titan Elon Musk has taken to X on multiple occasions to criticize the film, which in his opinion "desecrated" the story. Months before its release, the world's wealthiest man led criticism of Nolan for casting black actress Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy and transgender actor Elliot Page as the Greek warrior Sinon.

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In Greece, there has been criticism over the lack of Greek actors in the film, beyond extras.

Mitsotakis, however, congratulated Nolan on the film's "great box office success" and expressed appreciation that a significant part of the production was filmed in Greece.

Several scenes were shot in Messenia and Corinth in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece. The Peloponnese was the heartland of the Bronze Age civilisation in Homer's epic.